Children’s Laureate Wales & Bardd Plant Cymru

Connor Allen

Children’s Laureate Wales

The  Children’s Laureate Wales  is a national  ambassadorial  role  which aims to  inspire and empower children  and young people  across Wales through literature.  

Founded in 2019, the role  is  awarded every two years to a  talented and visionary  Wales-based writer who  is passionate about ensuring more children and young people discover the joy and well-being benefits of  engaging with  literature.   

The current  Children’s Laureate Wales is poet and performer  Connor Allen,  the second to be appointed to the role.   

Connor’s appointment was announced on National Poetry Day 2021.  He will be in the role  until August 2023, working hard to  make  poetry accessible, fun, and relevant to children and young people across Wales.  

The Children’s Laureate Wales  role  complements its  Welsh-language  sister project,  Bardd Plant Cymru  and  the two roles  contribute towards nurturing a healthier, more creative, and more diverse generation of readers and writers across Wales.   

Connor Allen  is a poet and multidisciplinary artist from Newport. Since graduating from Trinity Saint David as an Actor in 2013, Connor has worked with companies such as  Taking Flight Theatre, Sherman Theatre, Royal Exchange Manchester, Tin Shed Theatre, BBC Wales  and  National Theatre Wales. He is a member of  National Youth Theatre of Great Britain  and was also the winner of  Triforces Cardiff Monologue Slam, representing Wales at the London winners edition. Connor’s work is heavily inspired by elements of his own life such as grief, love, masculinity, identity and ethnicity. 

He has written for  BBC Wales, Sherman Theatre, BBC Radio 4  and  Dirty Protest, and received Arts Council of Wales funding for the production of his debut play  Working Not Begging – a one woman play about homelessness and grief. Most recently, he was shortlisted for  Triforce’s Dave & UK TV Writerslam 2021, won the Literature Wales and Firefly Press  Rising Star Wales Award 2021  and was a  Jerwood Live Work Fund  recipient in 2021. He is currently working on his one man autobiographical show, a poetry collection and a theatre adaptation. 

Connor’s priority as Children’s Laureate Wales will be empowering children and young people to tell their own unique stories through poetry. 

The Children’s Laureate Wales  is committed to:  

  • Expanding children and young people’s access to literature, in particular children and young people from marginalised and under-represented backgrounds  
  • Improving children and young people’s physical and mental health and well-being through literature  
  • Increasing children and young people’s enjoyment of literature  
  • Empowering children and young people through creativity 

The Children’s Laureate Wales keeps busy by:  

  • Running poetry workshops inside and outside of the classroom  
  • Penning official poems to mark special occasions and campaigns which are of interest to children and young people  
  • Creating online creative resources for children and young people to enjoy   
  • Championing the voices of Wales’ children and young people nationally and internationally 

For further information, visit the Literature Wales website, or get in touch on childrenslaureate@literaturewales.org  

Follow Children’s Laureate Wales on Twitter. Photography c. Literature Wales.

 

Casi Wyn

 

Bardd Plant Cymru

Bardd Plant Cymru is  a national  ambassadorial  role  which aims to  inspire and empower children  and young people  across Wales through literature.  

Founded in 2000, the role  is  awarded every two years to a Welsh-language poet who is passionate about ensuring more children and young people discover the joy and well-being benefits of engaging with literature. The project  introduces Welsh-language poetry to children in an energetic, dynamic and fun way through workshops, performances and various activities.  The project promotes creativity, communication skills and self-expression through the love of literature. 

The current  Bardd Plant Cymru is singer-songwriter and writer from Bangor,  Casi Wyn,  the seventeenth poet to be appointed to the role.   

Casi’s appointment was announced on National Poetry Day 2021. She will be in the role until August 2023, working hard to make poetry accessible, fun, and relevant to children and young people across Wales.  

The Bardd Plant Cymru role complements its  English-language  sister project,  Children’s Laureate Wales  and  the two roles  contribute towards nurturing a healthier, more creative, and more diverse generation of readers and writers across Wales. All activities are conducted through the medium of Welsh, but the scheme provides for and engages with children whose first language is not Welsh. The scheme is run by Literature Wales with the support of Welsh Government, S4C, Books Council of Wales and Urdd Gobaith Cymru. 

Bardd Plant Cymru is committed to:  

  • Expanding children and young people’s access to Welsh-language literature, in particular children and young people from marginalised and under-represented backgrounds  
  • Improving children and young people’s physical and mental health and well-being through literature  
  • Increasing children and young people’s enjoyment of literature  
  • Empowering children and young people through creativity 

Bardd Plant Cymru keeps busy by:  

  • Running poetry workshops inside and outside of the classroom  
  • Penning official poems to mark special occasions and campaigns which are of interest to children and young people  
  • Creating online creative resources for children and young people to enjoy   
  • Championing the voices of Wales’ children and young people nationally and internationally 

For further information, visit the Literature Wales website, or get in touch on mailto:barddplant@llenyddiaethcymru.org 

Follow Bardd Plant Cymru on Twitter 

 

 
 
 
 
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